The option to open up the gondolas frequently found under the wings of the Bf-109G is something that is up to the individual. It does add a visual interest and looks great in diorama.

In this set from Eduard, the parts are packaged in the typical plastic packaging with foam inserts, which protects the parts during shipping, you get 12 resin parts which are perfectly cast in light grey resin and a fret of photo etch.

Separating the parts from the casting blocks is easy as is locating the parts on the wing, especially if you remember to open the appropriate holes in the wings to help in positioning. Once the parts were separated I inspected them and compared them to the kit parts. The main part of the gondola is not the same shape as the kit’s plastic part. The resin piece lacks the steep upturn at the front to fair into the wing leading edge. Where the kit piece fits flawlessly, the resin piece will need to be faired into the leading edge. This is interesting in that in the previous release of the 109, the overscaled one, the resin pieces were correct and the plastic ones were too large. In this case the plastic ones are the proper shape and the resin ones aren’t.

Now with that said, if you still want to have your cannons exposed it is just a little bit of filler on the leading edge to fair it in. I used Apoxy Sculpt on mine. I feel that this shouldn’t have been necessary since the plastic parts are perfect fitting.

The other pieces fit perfectly. The cannons themselves are hollowed on the end. It is important that you follow the instructions if you are going to fit the cannons properly. The rest of the build up is pretty straight forward.

The hardest part will be to bend the PE to mount the access door and keep them even between the left and right. Although since I’ve checked my references it appears that they hang differently depending on the aircraft.

I painted the inside of the pods themselves with RLM 02 and the guns in Model Master Titanium which is my ‘gunmetal’ color. Once the fairing was faired in the outside was sprayed RLM 76 like the rest of the bottom of the wing.

Because of the shape issue on the leading edge, you got to want to have your gondolas opened. They look good but it is certainly not for everyone. Assembly is easy enough and the results look good. Again it is strange that the kit part is properly shaped and the resin one isn’t.

Recommended, if you want to display the gondolas open.

Thanks to Eduard and IPMS/USA for the review copy. You can obtain your example direct from Eduard at www.eduard.com or your local hobby shop or online retailer.